Kim paces Blue and Gold after 36 holes at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (March 11, 2019) -- Led by senior Geuntae Kim (Daegu, South Korea),the ETSU men’s golf team put together a strong finish to end the opening day at the General Hackler Championship on Monday from The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Kim, who is tied for 17th at 2-under-par 142 (73-69) following 36 holes of play, helped guide the Blue and Gold to a five-under-par in second-round play to move the Bucs into seventh-place. The Buccaneer senior fired a 3-under 69 in the second round to climb 21 spots up the leaderboard. Kim totaled four birdies, 13 pars and one bogey to end the final 18 holes on Monday, which moved ETSU to even-par 576 for the tournament.

North Florida holds a four-shot lead after day one as the 18th-ranked Ospreys are at 22-under-par 554, while No. 6 Wake Forest and No. 25 Liberty are tied for second at 18-under-par 558. No. 22 Louisville sits in fourth-place at 14-under-par 562 (284-278) and Kentucky is in fifth at 10-under-par 566 (284-282).

Individually, UNF’s Travis Trace sits atop the leaderboard at 11-under-par 133 (66-67), while Wake Forest’s Cameron Young – the first round leader – is one shot off the pace at 10-under-par 134 (66-68) and Kentucky’s Lukas Euler is in third at 9-under-par 135 (67-68).

Like Kim, freshman Dhaivat Pandya (Dayton, Ohio) also showcased a solid second round as he tied his lowest collegiate score at 2-under 70 to move into a tie for 28th at even-par 144. Sophomore Shiso Go (Kanagawa, Japan) is tied for 34th at 1-over-par 145 (72-73) and redshirt junior Trevor Hulbert (Orlando, Fla.) is tied for 42nd at 2-over-par 146. After registering a 75 in the first round, Hulbert finished the day with a 1-under 71, courtesy of tallying four birdies in round two.

The final round of the tournament gets underway at 8 a.m. on Tuesday with ETSU being paired with Texas A&M and Coastal Carolina. The Bucs hold a four-shot lead over No. 23 Texas A&M.

For more on ETSU men’s golf throughout the 2019 season, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf link.